Final Contact
by Starbat
Summary: Pyrus is struggling with the burden of not having a planet for his people. The Alliance has finally found a new system to inhabit, now that the Beast is gone, but the mysterious stranger that greets them makes them wonder if their problems are truly over
1. A New Home

**Chapter One**

**A Home**

The terrible sight blasted his soul like a raging firestorm; the familiar and beautiful landscape of the glowing valleys, the pluming valcanoes, the ever-shifting lava plains, and also his father's bridge where it was once all visible. It all made his heart ache. When the black sky was split by a menacing red streak, he knew what was coming, though he could not look away.

"Farewell, Prince Pyrus; Ruler of Planet Fire; Lord of the Golden Light!"

The words resounded in Pyrus's head, like a deafening echo that refused to fade. He watched in horror as his glorious home planet disappeared into the gaping jaws of the Beast Planet. The two black lids of the Beast's 'mouth' slammed shut, forever extinguishing the flames of his native world. And with it, the life of his lifelong friend and advisor, the Grand Vizier, also ended.

"The light of Fire will _never_ die!"

Pyrus's eyes flew open and he jerked up in his bed, breathing heavily. It took him a moment to realize where and when he was. He let out a sigh of mixed relief and frustration as he clutched his head. He had lost count of all the times he'd had this disturbing dream. He ran his fingers through his flame hair, as if he could swipe the memory away like a cobweb.

"You gotta get a hold of yourself." Pyrus told himself firmly.

He checked the time. It was just about time to get up anyway. It was impossible to tell without checking the time. Dawn and dusk had no meaning on a battle moon. But then, none of the Alliance's worlds could enjoy a dawn or dusk, these days. Not until they could find a suitable solar system to inhabit.

Pyrus went to his palace window. Once again, instead of seeing the beautiful volcanoes, valleys and lava plains of his home planet Fire, all he saw was the barren and sterile wasteland of the battle moon. It seemed it was all he would ever see in the morning anymore. And he knew that, beneath the surface, his people were still living their lives as refugees; second class citizens to the people of Rock. Despite his friendship with Jade and her acceptance of him and his people, there still existed much animosity between the citizens of Rock and Fire. Pyrus tried to shake the unpleasant feeling that always came with this train of thought.

He continued through the rest of his morning routine and left his chambers to engage in his princely duties. He ate his breakfast on the run as he read a security report which Captain Blaze had left for him to read that morning. It seemed that there had been another petty conflict among his people in one of their settlements on the battle moon. His people, once perfectly peaceful and friendly to one another, had taken to fist fighting and vandalism over trivial things like walking space and extra food rations. This had been going on for a while. As much as he hated to do it, he had been forced to assign additional security personnel to monitor the settlements and keep the peace where necessary. It had helped to an extent, but the situation was worsening. The root of the problem was obvious enough to the Prince. His people had become edgy and restless in the wake of having to spend their days living on a stark and uncomfortable battle moon. They were homesick. Pyrus knew exactly how they felt. At first, he thought that he and his people could adapt to their new life on the battle moons. It was a necessity that nobody questioned. But those were the days of conflict with the Beast Planet. Now, in this new period of relative peace, the situation had festered into a serious problem.

"I'll have to bring this up at the next Alliance meeting." Pyrus said aloud to himself as he continued through the dimly lit catacombs of the moon.

Pyrus was keen on showing all the other Alliance leaders that he could be an independent leader, so he had been hoping to quietly find a solution on his own. However, it was clear that the problem was something he would need the others' cooperation to solve. Unlike any of them, he didn't have the resources of his own planet to satisfy his people.

As it happened, this month's Alliance meeting was next up on his agenda. Thus, he looked up from the security report to find himself in the moon's hangar bay.

"Ah, my Prince. Your ship is ready. You don't want to be late," came Captain Blaze's deferent call from across the pad.

"Thanks," Pyrus said as he approached the Captain, who was standing next to Pyrus's personal ship.

"Did you get my report this morning, sire?" Blaze asked. "I was thinking we should assign five more guards to patrol settlements three, six and eight. We should make sure they watch for-"

"I trust your judgment, Captain," Pyrus interrupted, not really wanting to be fully aware of gritty details. "I'll see if I can't get the Alliance's help in this matter."

"As you say, my prince" Blaze replied, and bowed as he left.

Suddenly, Pyrus was reminded of the Vizier, who always had useful and insightful advice in matters like this. "I bet you would know just what to do, wouldn't you. I wish you were still here to help me."

"Hey lavahead, guess who!" a familiar, high pitched voice suddenly crackled over his ship's com system. Pyrus was yanked back out of his somber reverie. He looked into the cockpit and, through the flame screen, saw the impudent visage of the Lady Zera, princess of Planet Ice.

Pyrus pretended not to see the image in the flame. He responded while averting his eyes. "Is that you, Femur? By the inferno, you sound sick this morning!"

"Oh ha ha, very funny!" Zera fired back, "Why don't you come out _here_ and try to get away with a comment like that?"

Pyrus looked up at the opening in the roof of the hangar bay. He saw the unmistakable outline of Zera's personal Bladewing, the Borealis, zooming this way and that in an unending succession of aerial acrobatics.

"Is that a challenge, my lady, or an invitation?" Pyrus asked playfully.

Pyrus had been down all morning. But now, his depressing dreams and his troubles with his people had been temporarily forgotten. Pyrus found it impossible to be in a bad mood with Zera around. Their friendship had grown deep over the three years they had known each other, despite how, to the casual observer, they appeared to always be attacking each other with a verbal barrage of insults. It was an odd, love-hate relationship they both seemed to enjoy.

"Call it a fair warning, if you wish." Zera responded.

"I'd be happy to accept your invitation." Pyrus said as he leapt into his Fire craft and engaged the lift jets.

In mere moments, he had left the hangar bay far behind and was flying in an endless sea of stars. In the distance, he could see three of the four worlds of the Alliance, still on their long migration through space, propelled by the immense blasts of exhaust from the world engines. The engines had been a mysterious discovery that had saved all but one of their worlds from the Beast Planet. Nobody knew what alien civilization had created them, but they all clearly owed them their lives. Pyrus saw Planets Ice, Sand and Bone ahead of him, with Ice being the closest. Planet Rock was behind him, hidden from view by the battle moon.

Just then, something whizzed by the ship's window. It was Zera's bladewing. Their ships had come so close together that the blast from the bladewing's thrusters made his own ship shudder ominously, causing the fire prince's teeth to rattle.

"That's what _you_ get for comparing me to that toad, Femur. Ingrate!" Zera called to him over the com.

"Hey, you almost_slagged_ me! Are sure you know how to fly that thing?" Pyrus returned.

"For your _meager_ information, I've been getting private instructions from some of my father's _best_ pilots." Zera said, making sure to sound as snobby and superior as possible. "If you were in any real danger from me, you wouldn't even have had time to _think _about it."

"You talk big as usual," said Pyrus as he burned his jets to follow the ice ship, "But I happen to remember teaching you most of those fancy moves you were showing off."

"You're delusional as usual," Zera scoffed, "All you ever taught me was that awkward spin move that you always use to dodge attacks from behind."

"Why exactly are you here?" Pyrus inquired accusingly, "Shouldn't you be on Ice, preparing for the conference?"

"By the Glacier, don't remind me! I wanted to get in a bit of excitement before another boring Alliance meeting." Zera said, "Father tells me I need more diplomatic experience if I'm to take over for him some day."

"With your upstart attitude, I think your father has a point." Pyrus laughed.

"Alright charcoal brain! I gave you fair warning!"

Zera veered her ship around and made for another lunge at Pyrus's ship. But Pyrus dodged her this time. Fire ships were renowned for their unmatched maneuverability.

"Gotta catch me first!" Pyrus taunted, and made a mad dash for Planet Ice.

"Get back here, coward!" Zera called after him.

"No way. You're going to make me late for the meeting. See ya!"

"We'll just see about that." Zera said as she raced after Pyrus.

Inside the cockpit of her Bladewing, Zera tapped several buttons on her control panel. An image came to life on the small view screen in front of her. It was a targeting display, showing Pyrus's ship up ahead. She had put the ship in battle simulation mode. Her ship's computer would interface with Pyrus's ship's computer. She could now fire blank shots at the fire ship and the other computer would simulate battle damage by altering the ship's performance accordingly.

Meanwhile, Pyrus saw on his own screen that Zera was trying to initiate the simulation.

"Ah, so that's your game, huh Princess." He said over the com, "Alright, we'll see who can fight their way to Ice first."

Zera made no reply. Pyrus granted his mutual permission for the interface to take place and waited for Zera to make the first move.

Zera fired a few warning shots past the port and starboard engines of the fire ship to see how Pyrus would respond. Sure enough, he fell into that familiar spin pattern, which apparently had kept him alive during all those battles with the Beast ships. Zera easily predicted his future position and focused her fire there. Pyrus fell right into it and took a direct blow to his port thruster.

"Ah, _Inferno_!" Pyrus swore, as his ship simulated the blaster impact with an intense shudder, and then a disabled port thruster by automatically shutting that thruster off.

A little shaken by the impact, Pyrus's ship lost a bit of speed, simulating a momentary engine stall. Zera's bladewing shot past his cockpit window and sped toward planet Ice.

"A bit predictable today, aren't we." Zera mocked. "I was hoping for a challenge."

"You just watch yourself, _Princess_." Pyrus said in return. "I'm the one behind _you_ now."

"You say that like it bodes well for you. I'm in the lead after all." Zera laughed.

"Not for long." Pyrus said as he burned his jets to catch up, and fired.

Zera's ship did not respond. He must have missed. He burned his jets a bit hotter to get closer, and fired again. Once again, the Bladewing made no indication of being struck. Pyrus was sure he had hit it. Then the truth struck him harder than Zera's earlier blaster strike.

"You _cheater_! You didn't set your computer to receive hits; only send them!" Pyrus yelled over the com.

"I swear I don't know what you're talking about, _your highness_." Zera called back, with false confusion.

Pyrus could hear the smile in her voice. They were more than two thirds of the way to Ice now.

"It looks like I win this round." Zera declared triumphantly as her ship continued on its way to the planet.

It was true. Historically, since Ice was so far removed from the cluster's main energy source, Fire, the Ice people had to design ships that were incredibly efficient in their expenditure of energy. Ice ships could keep a steady but swift pace over long distances. Conversely, the Fire people could afford to build ships which were not nearly as efficient, but much more maneuverable. Unfortunately, this also meant that swift speeds could only be maintained over short distances. Thus, the Fire ships were the sprinters and the Ice ships were the marathon runners. Without the ability to slow her progress with a simulated strike, there was no way Pyrus could beat Zera with the lead she now had.

"See you at the meeting, _matchstick_!" Zera called as her ship entered Ice's atmosphere, "See if you can get there before it's over."

Pyrus deactivated the simulation so that his ship would function normally again. However, his engines were so hot now that he had to reduce his speed. He would surely be late for the Alliance meeting. He fumed intensely at the injustice of it all, but inwardly, somehow, he was smiling.

"You'll get yours next time, _Princess_" He quietly said, although he knew their com link was disabled at that point.

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In the conference hall on Planet Ice, Princess Tekla waited anxiously for the Alliance leaders to convene. One by one, Jade, Cryos, Femur, and Graveheart entered the room and took their places at the table. Zera came a few minutes later, panting slightly.

"You're late, my daughter" Cryos said, with a hint of disappointment.

Zera lowered her eyes slightly as she took her place across from her disapproving father, "Sorry Father, I had to take care of something."

"You'd best get your priorities in order, Zera" Cryos scolded, but in a perfectly calm and serious tone, "This is important diplomatic experience for you."

Zera was silent. Graveheart decided to break the tension, "Well, why don't I open the council then. Tekla tells me she and Voxx have important news for us this time."

"Yes, that is true." Tekla took over, "It came into sensor range just last night."

"Hold on a sec!" Femur interrupted, "Where's the kid? Isn't he supposed to be here too?"

"Tha's right" said Jade, "I's not like Pyrus to be late."

As if by instinct, they all looked straight at Zera, much to her discomfort. They said nothing, but she knew they were all thinking the same thing.

"What?!" she demanded of them, just as the chamber door swung open.

Pyrus entered the room and confirmed everyone's suspicions with the burning glare he shot at Zera. Once again, Graveheart took it upon himself to clear the air.

"Glad you could join us, Pyrus." Graveheart said, "You haven't missed anything yet, so please have a seat."

"Thanks," Pyrus replied curtly.

He took his place a few seats away from Zera. His accusing eyes never left her.

"Tekla, you were saying?" Graveheart offered.

"Yes, Voxx and I have discovered a new solar system up ahead." Tekla explained as she activated a monitor, showing an image of the slowly growing star. "It fits the criteria. In fact, it is the best candidate for a new home the Alliance has encountered since the riddance of the Beast Planet. The star is not too young, so it emits a survivable range of electromagnetic radiation. It is not too old either, meaning that the outer gas giants have not drifted into the interior of the system and the sun will continue to be a viable supporter of life for the foreseeable future."

"Yeah, yeah. Cut the fancy talk, babe. The bottom line is we can finally shut down the world engines, right?" Femur cut in.

"Yes, very soon." Tekla replied.

"Oooh, that's great! I can finally work on my tan then." Femur said, rubbing his hands together.

"And my quarriors will finally be able to go through an entire trainin' session without havin' to shed their armor toward the end." Jade added.

"Yes, this is relieving news for all of us." Graveheart agreed, "We'll finally be able to deactivate the atmospheric containment fields."

The atmospheric containment fields were what kept the climate of each planet stable as it traveled through interstellar space. Without them, each planet would immediately freeze to death without a star; even Planet Ice. The only problem was, whenever the field was activated, the entire planet was locked into a single, unchanging season. Since the planets were no longer rotating or orbiting a star, there was no day or night either. Planet Bone had been stuck in what felt like a perpetual dark winter ever since their escape from their home system. Planet Rock constantly felt like an equally dark summer. It was not a big issue while they were fleeing the Beast, but now, all the peoples of the Alliance were eager to have their endlessly unchanging skies start changing again.

"Yep, that's good news alright… for those of us with _planets!_" Pyrus spoke up heatedly.

His negative feelings from earlier that morning had resurfaced. He had not intended for his words to come out as strongly as they did.

"Is there something on your mind, Pyrus?" Cryos calmly inquired, hoping to inspire calmness in Pyrus as well.

Though he immediately regretted the force he'd used, he knew he might as well continue, now that he had their attention.

"My people have had to take the terrible conditions of the battle moons for too long. Something more needs to be done for them. And simply finding a new sun won't be enough." Pyrus reported, with a meaningful look in Jade's direction, "I thought at first that I could handle the problem myself, but the situation is getting more serious. I got a security report this morning about another petty squabble between some of my people gone out of control. A woman and two children will be in the infirmary for at least three days. I need your help."

"And what exactly do you expect _me_ to do 'bout it?" Jade demanded defensively.

"Jade has a point, Pyrus," Cryos said, "There really isn't anything more Planet Rock can offer your people, short of compromising their own resources."

Pyrus bit his tongue. He was desperate to find a real solution.

Secretly, Zera felt guilty, thinking that maybe her little prank had put Pyrus in a nasty mood. She decided to speak up.

"You might want to consider relocating some of your people to live on one of the other planets." Zera offered. "Perhaps they might feel at home on Planet Sand, since it's now the hottest of the four worlds."

Pyrus thought about it, but disliked that idea as well. Although the Alliance leaders were all on friendly terms, their respective peoples were often a different story. He saw everyday how his own people and the Rock quarriors shunned each other. He could not imagine his people being welcomed on any of the worlds. The Sand people were friendly enough, but they already shared their world with the Sun people, who were not nearly so open-minded.

"Hey, y'know what kid? There's plenty of food to go around on my planet." Femur said, "If your people wanna live there, they'd be as welcome as yourself."

"Gee thanks Femur," Pyrus softened a bit, "But… I don't know."

"Don't think we don't understand, Pyrus," Graveheart said, "But realistically, the battle moons are the closest thing your people have to a home of their own. I'm afraid relocating to another planet is the only other option."

Pyrus sank back into his seat. The grim solution to the whole problem was so obvious, but he had refused to see it until it was spoken aloud. He had promised his people that the proud light of Fire would never die. Would he have fulfilled that promise if his people had followed him only to be condemned to a life as second-class citizens on an alien world?

"Well, there is always the possibility that this new system we are approaching might offer another option." Tekla said, trying to cheer up the Fire prince.

But Tekla's optimism did little to cheer Pyrus up. The possibility of finding a whole new planet for his people was remote at best. The rest of the meeting was completely routine; with discussion of resource quotas and trade agreements. It seemed that the other four worlds would do just fine, especially now that they had found a new home.

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And so the day came that the Alliance worlds were to enter the new system. Tekla and Graveheart were on the bridge of the Aurora, which was leading the way into the system. Cryos, Femur and Jade were seeing to the preparation of their planets for permanent settlement. They had just finished traveling through a belt of comets marking the border of the system and the first of the gas giants had come into view.

"I've never seen anything like them." Graveheart said in amazement when he saw the first two giants, "They're just huge balls of swirling gas."

"My home system had them too." Tekla said. Her face darkened sadly at the memory of her own lost home, "Planet Storm was the first to fall to the Beast."

Graveheart noticed her expression, "You alright?"

"Yes… I am fine Graveheart." Tekla smiled to reassure him.

The monitor screens came to life again with an updated image.

"It seems there are two more gas giants, also lifeless," Tekla reported, glad for the distraction.

Graveheart looked up again as the next gas giant came into view. This one was truly a sight, with spectacular rings of ice lining its equator. He let out a low whistle.

"That one is huge!" Graveheart exclaimed.

"The next one will be even bigger." Tekla said.

"Princess Tekla, we are being hailed," the ice soldier manning the helm reported.

"What? I thought you said these gas giants were lifeless." Graveheart said.

"It would appear that the sensors missed something." Tekla responded, "Patch it through please."

The soldier obeyed and an image came on the screen above the bridge window. It was the image of a dark, seated figure; clearly a male, but his face was hidden in shadow.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the figure demanded gruffly.

Not feeling like this was a good start, Graveheart answered cautiously, "We are peaceful travelers from a distant solar system. We mean no harm."

"And what do you want?" the figure repeated.

"We are a group of worlds without a sun." Tekla answered this time, "We wish to settle peacefully in this system. It is the first chance we have had for a new home in two years."

"For what reason are you without a sun?" the figure pressed.

Graveheart and Tekla exchanged glances. They were reluctant to mention the Beast Planet as it might make this person think they were bringing a threat. But there was no way to avoid the subject.

"We were driven from our home system by a powerful destructive force which threatened to destroy our worlds if we stayed." Graveheart took a breath before continuing, "It… pursued us for over a year, but we have since ridden ourselves of it. We bring no threat with us-"

"What _exactly_ was the nature of this destructive force?" the figure demanded.

He was leaning in close to the screen now. His voice had taken on an intensity that was a bit unnerving.

"We called it the Beast Planet," Graveheart admitted, "It was an enormous, black world which consumes all life-bearing worlds it encounters. But, as I said, we have since lost it."

The figure leaned back and relaxed in his seat, as though he had heard all he needed to hear.

"You say that this 'Beast Planet' does not know where you are and will not be coming this way?" He questioned.

"That is correct." Tekla replied, "We are simply looking for a new place to enjoy this time of peace."

"Then you may enter the system." The figure said simply, "If that is all-"

"Hold on." Graveheart raised a hand to stop him from leaving, "Would you mind telling us who you are? Are there others like you in this system?"

The figure was silent for a moment before answering, "I'm called Eclipse. I am the guardian of this system. I watch for threats from beyond this point."

"What sort of threats would you be expecting?" Graveheart asked, curiously.

"I should probably tell you that there is a single planet in this system which bears intelligent life." Eclipse continued without answering the question, "But they are still rather primitive. They have never encountered civilizations beyond their world before. They don't even know about me, their guardian. And you are _NOT EVER_ to mention me to them if you want to stay in this system."

"Uh… we'll be sure to keep that in mind." Graveheart assured him, a bit taken aback.

"I should probably also mention that they have no unified government." Eclipse went on, more casually now, "Their world is divided up into hundreds of independent sovereign states called countries. But they're definitely going to know you're there. So, I'd watch my step if I were you."

"Thanks for the advice." Graveheart politely said.

"You're welcome. Goodbye then." Eclipse said abruptly before ending the transmission.

Tekla let out a sigh, "Well, that was not too bad."

"Hmm." Graveheart agreed, but he seemed perturbed, "Can you trace where that signal came from?"

"Voxx?" Tekla demanded of her action computer.

"Transmission originated from moon of gas giant." Came Voxx's mechanical reply.

"There!" Tekla pointed out the window to a large moon orbiting the ringed gas giant. It was completely obscured by cloud cover, "I do not understand why my scans do not show any life there, even though there is clearly someone there."

Graveheart stared at the clouded moon.

"Is something wrong?" Tekla asked, concerned.

"It's probably nothing," Graveheart finally said, "But doesn't it strike you as odd that he should be so interested in the Beast Planet, but not curious at all about the world engines?"

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Author's notes: Well, here is the first chapter of my latest story. My last story was quite a while ago and I am attempting to improve my writing style over what it was then. Also, Shadow Raiders is much closer to my heart and I plan to do the best job I can. I can also guarantee updates all the way to a conclusion, so I hope that makes you happy. I've seen many great writers on this site stop in the middle of their stories. The Shadow Raiders section seems woefully empty, so I'm happy to add to it. We need MORE. I will be updating the next chapter soon. However, HOW soon will depend on how many reviews I get to encourage me. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: **WELL, I'm FINALLY back with an update. I'm SOO sorry it took this long. Things just... got in the way. You know how that can happen. I'll try to keep the updates coming more consistently. I'll seriously try! To help make up for the wait, I've posted two chapters at once. I hope you enjoy them!

This one was just to bring some of the expanded universe background quickly into the scope of the story. Otherwise, I was feeling like the build-up was taking too long.

**Chapter 2, Birth of the Beast**

"Finally, I'm off duty," Lieutenant Eclipse said to himself as he strolled out of royal palace of Planet Dark.

King Umbreus was becoming ever more paranoid in his old age and had all his military personnel working ridiculously long hours. He had been looking forward to this evening for some time. This was the night of his first private outing with Princess Penumbra. He still had not shaken his feeling of ecstasy at having been chosen as her suitor by the Princess herself. Traditionally, she should have chosen someone from the extended royal family. The public announcement from the Princess had been controversial to say the least, but _he_ wasn't complaining. Her word was final on the matter, as she was now of age, having celebrated her two hundredth birthday only the previous week. He smiled to himself gratefully, almost smugly.

The Princess had caught the eye of many a young soldier, but he knew from his past encounters with her that their relationship was special. Although most rational thinkers would argue against it, he felt as though he had loved her from the day they had met.

Eclipse was now at the bottom of the Palace steps outside and was approaching the main gate. The soft light from the dim white dwarf star that was their sun glinted off the dark, crystalline buildings around him, as though they were cheerfully illuminating the path to the rest of his life. The sky was dark and many more distant stars were visible, even in the glare of their dim sun. He passed a few of his fellow soldiers who whistled and waved, knowing of his recent fortune. He saluted back to them gratefully.

Penumbra had told him that she would find him at the end of his shift. Just as he was beginning to wonder where she was expecting him to be, a carriage pulled up beside the street just beyond the gate. The door opened, revealing the glorious visage of the Princess inside.

"Come on! Get in!" she ordered, smiling.

Eclipse was a bit put off by her bossiness, but that was to be expected from royalty. He would be royalty himself soon enough. He hurried to his future bride's side and sat next to her in the carriage.

"It's good to see you, _**Lieutenant**_," she smiled at him, "Vhere shall vee go tonight?"

"Where ever you want, my love," Eclipse smiled back, "As long as I'm with you, I'm right where I want to be."

And it was true. Eclipse took a discrete moment to admire her slender form. Like him, her body was dark blue, almost jet black, with a glass-like, translucent texture. Her large, blue eyes glowed softly, imitating the glow in his own. Her long hair-like tendrils fell behind her back with perfect symmetry; some of it falling forward on either side, framing the beautiful features of her face in a most pleasing manner. Their bluish black fingers found each other over the seat between them.

"I have something for you," Eclipse said tenderly as he slipped a kind of twisted corsage onto the princess's wrist. It wasn't a flower, but a kind of intricate silver bracelet that fitted loosely with beautiful whirling designs.

"Oh, you're just too sveet, aren't you," Penumbra said, smiling, but then her expression took on a mischievous look, "But don't think I can be so easily manipulated vith gifts. I vill not be making your future rule as king too easy for you."

"You can't blame a fool for trying, can you?" Eclipse returned her mischievous grin.

He played along with their light-hearted banter, if only for her sake. He understood all too well the pressures she was under as Princess. The Queen, her mother, had passed away some time ago, and with her father's increasing senility, the people looked to her more and more, as the only remaining member of the royal family, for leadership. Eclipse was more than ready to share the burden with her. The princess ended the game and came back to their happy situation.

"I have just the place in mind, Eclipse. There's something exciting I want to show you." Penumbra signalled to the carriage driver that they were ready to be off.

"Really? Is it a surprise?" Eclipse asked playfully as the carriage trundled along the dark street.

Penumbra grinned broadly, looking ahead of the carriage toward their destination at the far end of the city, "You'll see. It's something that isn't known to the general public yet. I'll tell you this though. Our future life together will be anything but boring."

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"Not now, Dim! Come back later, will you?" Dr. Lemnis ordered to the clumsy janitor.

Dim was always trying to rush through his work at the end of the day, doing a half-assed job of it too, just so he could leave a few minutes early, along with everyone else who worked at the science and development headquarters.

Dr. Lemnis let out an exasperated sigh as the janitor moved away from his workspace in the laboratory. As head of the department, and as he had the most passion and vision for the work being done, Lemnis often found himself among the very last to leave in the evening. He was quite tall for a man of Planet Dark, which only added to the air of authority he wielded around the laboratory. His skin was the same dark, shiny, translucent blue as the rest of his race, and he wore a long flowing lab coat. His most distinctive feature was the large, downward-curving crest he wore on his head.

The main laboratory hall was vast, and filled with various work benches and counters and tables, lined with complex scientific equipment and works in progress. Being a close family friend to the king certainly had its advantages. Dr. Lemnis was never wanting for funding. The royal family was always ready and eager to hear of his proposals and theories, and he was not one to disappoint them. He turned back to his work on the bench and finished calibrating the integrated circuit he was working on for its insertion into the main machine not far off. Just then came a pair of footsteps approaching the entryway. He looked up to see his favourite visitor, the Princess Penumbra, along with a guest.

"Good evening, my lady," Lemnis exclaimed, "What a pleasure it is to have you visit."

"Hi Doctor," Penumbra replied, "I've got someone special vith me tonight. He's my future husband. Since he vill von day be sharing my rule, I thought it important that he hear about some of your amazing most recent developments."

Dr. Lemnis was a very famous name on Planet Dark, but Eclipse was not the least bit happy to be in his laboratory. It was true that the inventions and discoveries yielded by his genius had advanced Dark's technology considerably over the last few decades, but there was a growing number of advocates, including Eclipse himself, who thought that the technologies he helped create led to dilution of cultural diversity and basic values across the planet. It was like he was trying to turn Dark society into some kind of monstrous, single-minded machine. Lemnis's personal logo, called the Lemniscate after himself, was seen all over Dark society, almost like an ideology taking over. Eclipse often had to mentally slap himself for being paranoid, but the feeling remained.

Eclipse had been an active member of this growing group of malcontents. They had resorted only to non-violent demonstrations, but it was clear that Lemnis recognized him. A flash of animosity passed between them, unnoticed by the Princess. Apparently she hadn't thought of this when she decided to bring him here tonight, or perhaps she just wasn't aware. It was amazing how oblivious the royal family could be sometimes. It didn't matter. For her sake, Eclipse would be on his best behaviour. He could only hope that the 'good' doctor would do the same.

"You do me too much honour, Princess," Lemnis said, turning then to Eclipse with a slight edge in his voice, "Do you know anything of the theory of the interchangeability of matter and energy, young man?"

Eclipse had braced himself for the sudden science lesson. He remembered something about it during his finishing years at school. He would humour him. What was the harm?

"I think it goes something like, energy is equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the speed of light… or something," He answered evenly.

"Right you are, son," Lemnis approved. He turned quickly to the wall to avoid making eye contact with Eclipse, "Let me show you something on the monitor."

As the three approached a large screen, where Lemnis was to give them his demonstration, there was an audible sigh from the janitor, who was sweeping the dark floor not far off.

"That's just Dim. Don't mind him. He's just upset that we'll be holding him up late," Lemnis waved his hand dismissively in the general direction of the offending worker, "Now look here. I've discovered a method of safely converting solid matter to pure energy and harnessing it with close to one hundred percent efficiency."

The graphics flashed across the screen, illustrating what the Doctor was talking about. It showed a chunk of solid matter being broken down and used to light cities and power vehicles.

"And when you consider the ratio of mass to energy, you realize that this technology could easily satisfy all our energy needs to the end of time and beyond."

Eclipse nodded silently. Penumbra and Lemnis both found this incredibly exciting. Although he could certainly see the value in it, he also was not blind to the danger. Society worked just fine as it was. Why do something so radical? Matter was the basis for everything, including their own bodies. Why treat it like just amorphous raw material for general use? Eclipse thought it was a dangerous way of thinking.

Knowing full well that Eclipse would be a tough audience, Lemnis switched to a new presentation on the screen, "This design shows my proposal for an engine that can literally move an _entire _planet through space. Only my new energy conversion technology can hope to channel enough power to make such a thing possible. There's even another, less stable mechanism I'm working on for direct teleportation."

The screen showed a cross-section of a planet with a spinning, glowing engine at its core, with mountain-sized fuselages sprouting out of one side. It was all very dramatic, but for what purpose?

"Think of it, my love!" Penumbra exclaimed, "With this ability to convert matter and propel our very planets through space, imagine how far we could go; how much we could change to suit ourselves. You must have heard the reports back from deep space, about how unusual our planet is."

Eclipse had heard all about it; about how Planet Dark was unusual for bearing life in the winter of its solar system's existence, how the heavy elements of the planet, combined with the atypical gamma radiation from the sun, created a form of Proto-matter life that was found nowhere else yet in the galaxy. The ability to convert matter would be instrumental for modifying environments to suit their unique physiology. There was also a feeling of urgency, since the star was old, a new solar system to live in may need to be found. Hence, the need to move planets. Eclipse thought, _**this **_at least _**might**_ be worthwhile after all.

"But truly, my most exciting discovery is my most recent one," Lemnis strode away from the monitor.

"Oh yes, listen to this, Eclipse," Penumbra urged as they followed the doctor across the room.

Although that last point was indeed fairly interesting, and Penumbra was clearly excited by it, Eclipse was just a little bit deflated that she didn't have a more _**romantic**_idea than this for their evening.

Lemnis picked up the integrated circuit he had been working on and inserted it carefully beneath a panel on what looked like a low-lying, flat table, with a massive cylindrical pillar descending from the ceiling and hovering a few feet over its center.

"This, you have to see with your own eyes to believe," Lemnis explained with almost forced excitement, "I was also experimenting with the opposite notion of creating _matter_ from pure energy, and in doing so, I discovered _**this**_."

He flicked a switch and a strange glow emanated from between the surface of the table and the flat surface of the pillar above it. After a few moments of what seemed like some sort of charging sequence, a small blob of blackish red 'stuff' appeared, glowing faintly and floating in mid-air between the table and the pillar.

"This, my young friends, is what I like to call _**Null matter**_," Lemnis proudly announced, gesturing to the tiny blob, "In terms of its overall subatomic density, it is just one order of magnitude above being nothing more than pure energy. Its component energy has the longest wavelength of anything that can exist in a solid state. That's what gives it its reddish coloration. It's highly unstable if left to its own devices, _**BUT**_ with an artificial genesis matrix, it can be stabilized into any form or shape that you can imagine. You could produce any conceivable machine with this substance, and as long as the genesis matrix isn't disrupted, Null matter is _**indestructible**_**.**"

"Wow. Now _**that's **_interesting," Eclipse said, but the tone of his voice betrayed is increasing boredom, sounding just a little sarcastic.

"Well, I suppose that's it then," Lemnis said, in a suddenly very curt tone, "Perhaps you can do me a favour on your way out."

The Doctor went to a computer monitor and ejected a small information disc. He handed it unceremoniously to Eclipse, "You work in the Palace, right? Pass that disc along to the royal military archives during your next shift. I expect they'll want to put them into _**practice**_ soon."

Eclipse accepted the disc. He said nothing but dropped the friendly pretence, since obviously Lemnis had given up on it. Eclipse knew that the military archives would be expecting this data and that he'd have some explaining to do if they didn't get it. He supposed this was Lemnis's way of punishing him for not supporting his work.

"Let's go Eclipse," Penumbra said to him helpfully, finally sensing the tension in the room, "We'll let the Doctor close down the lab. We can take the carriage for a cruise along the mercury coastline. How does that sound?"

The two young lovers went back out the way they came, leaving Lemnis completely alone, except for Dim who was finishing up his sweeping at the far end of the room. Lemnis slumped into a chair next to the null matter table, pondering this most recent brush with this Dark Luddite movement.

It was incredible. How could the princess choose such an ignoramus for her future husband? How could anyone with the slightest appreciation for science and knowledge not be astounded and delighted by such technological feats? _**This**_was to be Planet Dark's next king?

"Your geniusss iss wasssted on such a fool as him."

Lemnis looked up from his frustrated reverie. He knew that Dim hadn't said anything. There was only one thing in the room that could have produced that voice; a voice so penetrating that it was impossible to ignore, and yet so soft that it seemed to come from a great distance away. It was almost as though the voice didn't come from outside, but instead was some twisted reflection of his own thoughts within his own mind. He had heard it before, not long after his last successful experiment. At first, he had thought he was going crazy, so he made sure not to tell anyone about it. He looked not to any other living being, but instead to the small particle of Null matter that was still floating above the table.

Lemnis responded quietly to the voice, "I'm sure he'll come around. Once he sees the benefits of this technology in action, even the most narrow-minded individual can be convinced."

"And when will that be?" the voice hissed, "Your pressent king is old and decrepit. It will be very sssoon now when this fool takesss the crown. Do you even think he will bother to keep your lab running long enough for you to prove yourssself?"

"He wouldn't make such radical changes. The overwhelming majority of the people have no major complaints about what I'm doing." Lemnis said to the Null matter.

"You underessstimate the power of greed," said the Null matter, "Why wait and take a chansse? What you need isss time you do not have to complete your research. _**However**_, I can give you that knowledge right _**now.**_ I can _**ssshhow**_you the true nature of the Voyd and all the power therein. The abilitiesss you will gain from it will be unrivalled. Sssomeone with your wissdom rightfully should ssshow the world the way things ssshould be. They _**will**_ thank you for it, even if they don't immediately."

Lemnis listened and was tempted by the promise of full knowledge of what he had discovered. But to have your own discovery actually talk into your mind and offer you full knowledge of it... it was quite unusual.

"What do I have to do?" Lemnis asked.

"Sssimply reach out with your hand... and _**touch**_ the sssubsstance of my being. _**Touch**_ it! And I will grant you all the knowledge and wissdom and power of the Voyd. I am the universsse itself. I am the basisss of everything. You will find no better offer asss long as you live," said the strange voice.

Lemnis leaned forward. He was nervous about touching the substance. He had not yet experimented with how it would react to the proto-matter of his body. Was he really going crazy? Was this voice worth listening to? He thought again about Eclipse and his fear for his life's work. He closed his eyes and touched the null matter before he could change his mind again.

The Null matter didn't feel as strange as Lemnis had expected. It folded and moulded between his fingers like some sort of soft putty. The only strange thing about it was the slight tingling he felt in his fingertips as they slid across the null matter surface. He didn't experience any enlightenment or the sort of 'download' of knowledge that he was expecting. He opened his eyes and withdrew his hand, slightly confused and just a bit disappointed.

"Nothing happened. What did you mean by-" But Lemnis stopped there.

He looked down at his hand when he realized that the tingling sensation hadn't gone away. His eyes widened in horror at what they saw. The reddish glow from the Null matter had spread to his hand and was now moving methodically up his arm. The slight tingling had now grown into a full-fledged sense of utter detachment, as though his arm was being disintegrated, and that the red thing now in front of him was the arm of someone... or some_**thing**_else!

"What's happening!!" Lemnis yelled frantically.

Finally, Dim looked up from his manual labour, only now noticing that something was out of the ordinary.

The voice hissed again in Lemnis's mind, but now it was much louder, as though it were now a presence invading his very being, "Ah yesss, this is a good body. And your technical knowledge will prove quite ussseful. Fear not my friend. I will keep my word. You ssshhall be one with the Voyd, and you will be the _**head**_ of the Beast!!"

With one last agonized wail, Lemnis struggled in his mind against the invasion, but it was no use. The red glow spread over his head and shoulders and continued down his torso. He crumpled over, as though in pain.

Dim watched all this drama with dumbfounded shock, "Doctor, what's going on? Do you need help or something?"

Just then, the thing that was once Lemnis looked up, straight at Dim. It wasn't his face anymore. It was shrunken and twisted. The eyes where now nothing but points of malevolent, red light, emanating from impossibly deep eye sockets. The creature, without a moments warning, sprang across the room toward its first victim, lab coat flapping like a bat's wings, and it snatched Dim around the neck. Dim was unable to speak, but his expression was one of pure panic as he sensed the same evil presence invade his mind. His head and face glowed red and malevolent. His eyes also disappeared into those same glowing points of red light. The creature released him, and he slid to the floor.

"You are mine now asss well," the voice now hissed in Dim's mind, "I can use one like you; simple and aggressive. From this moment hensseforth, you will ssserve the Voyd, as the firm arm of the Beast's forces... Blokk."

"Blokk..." Dim repeated, as he slowly got back to his feet, "I am Blokk."

"As my firsst new sservant," said Voyd with malicious pleasure, "I shall grant you the charge of all ssservants that follow."

"Ah, dank you Voyd," He looked down and explored his newly altered body with his flickering, ember eyes.

It was now bristling with vicious spines and his head bore a crest similar to Voyd's. He was strong and built like a tank. His mind was filled with a kind of wild aggression, kept at bay only by his subservience to Voyd. As though to indulge this newfound malevolence, each of his wrists now sported two huge serrated blades composed of solid null matter.

"My will alone keeps your new body stable, but as long as the eternal Voyd exists, so do you."

"I understand master," Blokk replied, bowing, "May da Voyd exist for all time."

"I have a misssion for you, Blokk. There is another whom I require for my endsss. Find Princesss Penumbra. She won't be far. Find her and make ssure she is touched by the Voyd asss you have been. She will be an esssential sservant if I am to conquer thiss world. Do you underssstand?" Voyd commanded, "If you find her companion with her, _**dessstroy**_ him, and feel free to sshhow the nature of the Voyd to any others you encounter on the way asss well. They will be yours to command."

"Yes, I understand Voyd," Blokk said, smiling, "I will do as you ask."

Blokk turned and leapt over the laboratory tables and disappeared down the entryway, in the wake of Penumbra and Eclipse. Voyd turned and stared pensively at the blob of null matter, floating, almost innocently, over the table.

"This universe sshhall know the _**Beast**_ once again." He said to the encroaching darkness.

End chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** That's right! In case it wasn't obvious from chapter one, I'm brining Earth into the story. So sue me!! I'll try to do it right. Just bear with me.

**Chapter 3, Earth**

The four Alliance Planets drifted forth on the power of their titanic engines. Like brooding leviathans waiting peacefully in the deathly silent black of space, they halted just outside the band of Asteroids that separated the vast, cold outer solar system from the warm, inviting inner solar system that was to be their new home.

The impression of tranquility as observed from space could not give a more inaccurate impression of the bustling activity on each of their surfaces. News of the newfound home for the Alliance had spread like wildfire and the citizens of each planet were preparing their homes, businesses and families for the massive transition that was to come. As though four entire planets worth of people had released a sigh of relief simultaneously, the joy of finally putting an end to this long dark migration was palpable wherever you were.

Coordinating the placement of four planets into stable orbits around a yellow dwarf star was no small feat of coordination. So, to plan the endeavor, Graveheart, Tekla, Femur, Pyrus and Zera convened in the astronomy lab on Planet Ice. The astronomy lab was a large room with holographic projectors, allowing for the observation of a life-like model of the system.

"Well, Planet Bone is all ready to go!" Femur waddled enthusiastically into the room, rubbing his hands together and staring placidly at Tekla, who seated herself in the control chair.

"Lord Ramset says that _Zuma _says that Sand is prepared anytime." Zera added in a somewhat exasperated tone.

Lord Ramset was the speaker of the Sun people, one of the two races that inhabited Planet Sand. A bit resentful of the fact that the Sand people tended to get most of the recognition from the Alliance, Ramset insisted on being the middle man for all long distance communications with Zuma. Unfortunately, Zera did not take this into account when she jumped at the post of being the official coordinator of Ice-Sand relations. Instead of frequent conversations with her good friend Zuma, she instead had to put up with Ramset's overbearing attitude.

"I've just spoken with Cryos and Jade. They say both Ice and Rock should be prepared well in time." Graveheart said as he entered alongside a notably silent Pyrus. Pyrus knew, as did they all, that as long as Rock was prepared for the settling, his people would be ready by default.

"That is good to hear." Tekla said, "Perhaps now I can show you what your new home looks like."

Tekla turned in the control chair and activated the control panel, calling up the recently collected data on the inner solar system. The plain, metallic walls of the room disappeared behind a shimmering blanket of black, and stars came to life all around them. A huge yellow light source flared into existence at the far end of the room, nearly blinding them.

"That is your new sun." Tekla reported the obvious. "Four small planets were detected as we approached the asteroid field."

The four planets appeared, floating in orbit around the holographic sun. One in particular seemed to catch everyone's attention.

"The third planet is so blue, just like Ice!" Zera breathed. She stepped closer to the little holographic planet, mesmerized by even this small, flickering model of the real thing.

"Yes, except that is not ice, but water. It actually closely resembles the Planet Water that once existed in my own system." Tekla remarked.

"This must be the planet Eclipse told us about." Graveheart said pensively. He stared intently at the blue planet with renewed concern.

Femur wasn't concerned at all about the blue planet. He was strolling in and out between the four inner planets in the hologram, making a big show of pretending to bask in the glowing warmth of the fake sun. He stopped at a point just between the blue planet and another yellow planet closer to the sun, "I think this spot riiiiiight _**here**_ is just right for the new center of my boundless Bone Empire!"

Graveheart and Zera rolled eyes at each other in response to Femur's frivolous behavior.

"What about that planet?" Pyrus suddenly said.

They now noticed that Pyrus had been staring intently at a different planet the whole time. It was the first planet, closest to the sun. Tekla tapped a few commands into the control chair and called up the data available on that planet.

"That is one of the dead worlds, Pyrus. It has practically no atmosphere and no magnetic field. It is also much closer to the sun than Planet Fire was. Nothing at all can live there." Tekla reported grimly, knowing what Pyrus had been hoping to hear.

But Pyrus made no response. He just kept staring at that dry, lifeless rock.

Graveheart waited politely for a moment, but when Pyrus remained silent, he changed the subject again, "Tekla, have you worked out where each of our planets will fit into this system?"

Tekla replied, "Yes, considering each world's natural climate, the orbits of Sand and Bone should be established between the second and third planets of this system, while the orbits of Rock and Ice should be between the third and fourth planets."

Tekla tapped the panel as she spoke and colorful, highlighted lines, representing the future orbits of their worlds, appeared in the appropriate places between the second, third and fourth planets of the simulation.

"Alright, so what are we waiting for?!" Femur exclaimed ecstatically, hopping from foot to foot like the impetuous amphibian he was, "Let's get these mud balls lined up!"

"Hold on Femur," Graveheart said, "I'm thinking we need to go about this carefully. We should reconvene the Alliance council to decide our next move and how we're going to enter this system. I'll tell Cryos and Jade to join us."

"Whaddaya mean?!" Femur whined, indignant. He gestured to the proposed orbits of the simulation, "We have it all planned out, Ace! Why do we need to _**talk**_more about it?"

"We have to think about diplomatic relations with the primitives on the Blue Planet, Femur," Graveheart patiently said, "We've never encountered a planet quite like this, and this situation is different because we're planning to stay here long term."

Femur, grumbling hotly to himself, stomped out of the room. Diplomacy was never going to be his forte. Graveheart and Tekla followed him out. Zera, who had been listening closely, was about to leave as well when she noticed that Pyrus was still obsessing over that dead, sunbaked planet.

"Well, are you coming or _**what**_?" Zera demanded as everyone left the room, except for the two of them.

"Don't you see?" Pyrus whispered, as he continued to stare at the image of the small planet "This is the answer. My people can live there!"

"Don't be so stupid!" Zera scolded as she came back to stand next to Pyrus, staring for herself at the unimpressive rock, "You heard what Tekla said. Even _**your**_ people couldn't live in such intense solar radiation. There's no atmosphere. You wouldn't be able to breathe. And worst of all; it's ugly! Who wants to live on a world so blemished with craters?"

"You don't understand, Zera." Pyrus said, finally turning to meet her icy gaze, "This planet has potential. We can make it into a new Fire."

"And how _**exactly**_do you plan to do _**that**_?" Zera challenged.

Pyrus didn't answer. He just turned his gaze back to the planet. After a few moments of silence, Zera couldn't stand anymore.

"You're such an impractical hothead, you know that?!" She shot at him before turning to leave the room, "When you come back to reality, you can come join the rest of us at the meeting!"

Back in the council room, Pyrus rejoined the other Alliance leaders to discuss their next course of action regarding the blue planet.

"The fact that these primitive people are divided into separate cultural and even technological paradigms complicates the situation." Cryos began, his expression grave.

Although she hated to find herself in agreement with Femur, Jade did not share in his concern, "How? Those are their own internal problems. Why should our presence make any difference?"

"You have to remember, Jade." Graveheart answered, "Eclipse said that these people have absolutely no experience with life beyond their own world."

"And to make contact with just one to a few of their sovereign states might make the others respond with fear or even violence, considering our military superiority." Cryos finished.

"And just how reliable is this Eclipse's information?" Jade demanded skeptically, "From what you told me, he doesn't sound very trustworthy."

"Even so, I feel that we should find some way to make them aware of us such that they know we mean no harm, before we move our planets into visual range. It would be wise, whether or not Eclipse spoke the truth." Cryos said.

"Uh, excuse me." Femur interjected, practically climbing onto the conference table to counter his shortness, "Why should we make contact at all? Why can't we just park these planets where we want 'em? I mean, what are they going to do about it?"

"It's not about our own safety, Femur. It's about theirs." Graveheart replied, "If we just come barging into their system, it could cause a panic they might resent us for. If we're going to live in this system, then these people are going to be our neighbors. We should do our best to stay on friendly terms with them."

"Look, whatever!" Femur burst out, "I say we move straight in. We can stay out of sight for now, right? I hate the idea of pussyfooting around. I mean, either way we _ARE_ here to stay!"

There was silence for a moment before Graveheart let out a sigh, "I know you're eager to shut down the engines Femur-"

"You bet I am, Rocko!" Femur exclaimed.

"Is there any way to do what he's suggesting?" Graveheart asked of Tekla.

"I believe we can stay out of sight of the planet by moving to the other side of the sun and putting our planets into the correct orbits there." Tekla replied, "That would give us a few short months to plan our approach to a first contact."

"Well, how about it?" Graveheart asked the group, "Does this arrangement satisfy everyone?"

"You're certain these primitives don't have the technology to detect us as long as we aren't visible?" Cryos asked.

"Voxx and I have detected a complex array of artificial satellites around the planet. But they seem to be used only for communication across the planet itself." Tekla explained, "As one might expect, they do not appear to have invested in any extra-planetary communication system that might pick us up."

Cryos rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Then I suppose I am in agreement. We should move in as discreetly as possible, but waste no time afterward to make peaceful contact."

So it was agreed. The Alliance leaders made to move into their new home system.

Another denial. It was all that Ashley Timmons could think about. She stared forlornly at the disappointing piece of paper in her hand. She had made dozens of applications and not a single one was approved. Ashley worked as a SETI scientist at the Allan Telescope Array in Northern California. Ashley was a tall, thin woman; not terribly pretty, but she was in love with her work. She had recently earned her PHD in cosmology from Stanford. All her colleagues thought she was crazy for joining the SETI program, but they simply didn't understand. The hope and the dream of making contact with an alien intelligence, an event that would be the most important in all human history, was always the driving force of the program. It was what attracted her; that hope and dream. But scientific research demanded results. If there were no results, then there was no funding…

The contract they had for the telescope array was about to run out, and without continued funding, the program would die. In the meantime, Ashley was frustrated with the kind of human resources she had to work with. The way the SETI program was declining in apparent importance, it was incredibly difficult to get decent help. She glared silently at Terrance Gripes across the room. He was quite a slacker; a contented couch potato. And he looked the part, with his roundish torso and pale complexion. He had a bad reputation around the office, as he often failed to take his tasks seriously. Thus, he had been assigned to the night shift, much to Ashley's dislike, since that meant she was stuck with him.

It was pretty clear that Terrance did not share Ashley's passion for the work. It was just a passing interest for him; probably just because he was a sci-fi nerd and he was looking for a related, do-nothing job. He spent most of his time idling the shift away. It made Ashley's stomach turn when she thought about it.

This evening, Terrance's diversion of choice was his recently acquired Wii console; the latest video game system from Nintendo. It had been out for a few years, but he just now was able to afford it. Since other shifts had been mind-numbingly uneventful for him, he had taken the liberty of setting up the system with a small television he had also brought to entertain him. After all, the only other thing to listen to at two in the morning was the radio static from distant stars that he was _**supposed**_ to be listening to. The Wii required that the player use actual arm movements to give commands, instead of just pushing buttons. Thus, it was quite an exertion for him, and his heavy breathing was starting to annoy Ashley.

"Don't you think it's time you switched carrier bands?" She asked of him accusingly, without lifting her gaze the mail she was going through.

"Don't… distract me." He huffed between breaths, oblivious to her restrained frustration, "You're going to screw me up." 

With a dramatic, blasting sound effect and a scream of defeat from Samus Aran, it was obviously game over for Terrance at the moment. He threw down the controller in frustration.

"Now look what you made me do!" he said hotly to Ashley.

"Just do your job, you lazy dork!" she returned in kind.

Not very big on confrontations, Terrance immediately obeyed his irate supervisor. He turned to his computer and raised the carrier frequency to 120 megahertz.

As he did so, the computer system scoured all the incoming cosmic radiation corresponding to that frequency. Suddenly, a red indicator started beeping alarmingly on the screen. The computer had detected a signal too regular and controlled to pass for your typical stellar radiation.

"Ummmm", Terrance hesitated.

This was out of the ordinary and for once, he actually had to take a moment to think about what to do next. He awkwardly punched in the commands necessary to localize the offending transmission. The sound he heard was undeniably interesting.

_(…take Sand in behind Bone. It'll make things go more smoothly on the other s…._)

What the hell is that?" Terrance said to himself.

"What's that?" Ashley replied, not paying that much attention.

"I hear something strange. It sounds like speech, but I can't understand it." Terrance said.

"You're probably just getting a stray foreign signal." Ashley responded disinterestedly, knowing that it would be so like Terrance to make such a blunder.

Not listening, Terrance continued to focus on the mysterious signal, _(…reduce engines to minimum thrust….), _and there was that strange language again. This time, Ashley clearly heard it as well.

"Call me crazy, but that didn't even sound like it was human." She said, much more interested now.

Ashley dropped what she was doing and joined Terrance at the monitor. Could the unthinkable actually be happening? Was she really hearing a signal from another world? Ashley didn't want to get her hopes up. She had had enough disappointment for one day… week… career.

"Why would an alien race try to communicate across space with only spoken language?" She asked of nobody in particular; certainly not Terrance, "They would know that anyone who received it wouldn't be able to understand it."

"Yeah, well, as you said, it's probably nothing." Terrance said skeptically.

"What does the redshift indicate?" She ordered, looking at the shifting numbers on the screen, "I think the source is moving."

With an annoying sigh, Terrance set to work using the recording of the signal to determine the distance of the source with the well-known redshift technique.

"Wow! One hundred and thirty million kilometers?" Terrance reported after looking at the results on the monitor.

"What, that can't be right!" Ashley exclaimed.

A radio source that was 130 million kilometers away was certainly not from Earth, but it wasn't far enough away to be from outside the solar system. There were only two explanations for a talking radio source being in a place like that. One, somebody from Earth had secretly built a ship capable of taking a person almost twice the distance of Mars away from the planet. Or two, there was some sort of alien presence out there, right in our neighborhood! Both explanations were incredible.

"So, who do we call about this?" Terrance asked tentatively of his intensely thoughtful supervisor.

After a moment's silence Ashley answered, "Everybody."

Perhaps her dark night of the soul had finally come to an end.

"I don't want to have to start and stop the engines to fine tune our position, Bismuth." Jade ordered from her empty throne room, "Make sure we're at the right distance before you give the signal to shut'em down."

"Yes, majesty," Bismuth's voice responded over the com before cutting out.

"Greetings, your high and mightiness," Graveheart suddenly called in a sarcastically grandiose voice from the foot of the stairs leading up to Jade's throne.

"I keep tellin' you to call me _Jade_" Jade answered, with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

"Heh, sorry" Graveheart smirked as he watched Jade come down the steps to meet him, "I just thought we might want to make the most of what little time we have before we start planning the first contact."

"Oh?" Jade said coyly as she stopped in front of Graveheart, "And just wha' did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I can think of a couple of things," Graveheart whispered tenderly as he took hold of Jade's hands and they twined fingers affectionately.

Slowly, Graveheart leaned in to kiss the woman he loved.

"Graveheart! Come in!" came a frantic call from Tekla over the com, "We have a serious problem!"

Graveheart was stopped in his tracks. He opened his eyes to see his own disappointment reflected in Jade's. They released each other's hands and Graveheart reluctantly answered Tekla's call.

"What's the situation?" Graveheart asked.

"We have received a message from the blue planet. They have detected us!" Tekla exclaimed.

"What? I thought you said this couldn't happen!" Jade demanded of Tekla.

"My apologies," Tekla replied, "It appears that they have radio telescopes which we did not detect."

"You fool!" Jade yelled, "We thought your information was reliable!"

"Jade, calm down!" Graveheart said seriously, "It doesn't matter now how it happened. It happened, and now we'll just have to make contact right away."

"This development greatly disturbs me," Cryos said gravely, once again in the council chamber, to all the other leaders, "We have not begun planning how we are going to approach this, and now we find ourselves needing to act immediately."

"I am deeply sorry for my oversight." Tekla lamented to the group.

"You don't need to keep apologizing, Tekla" Graveheart said helpfully, "Can we see the transmission they sent us?"

Tekla activated the monitor on the conference table and the message began playing, "_Greetings from the people of Earth. We welcome you with open arms and hope that we all can learn a great deal from each other_," The automated message continued in this fashion alongside a visual display of two nude figures, one male and one female, making friendly gestures of greeting, in addition to other information, like the basic structure of the human genome, the periodic table and a list of mathematical constants.

"Well, they seem friendly enough to me," Pyrus commented.

"Yeah, sounds like you were worried about nothin', frosty." Femur remarked, leaning back in his seat lazily.

"Your optimism may be premature, Femur," Cryos replied, "I fear we are only hearing one of many ways these 'Earth' people will respond to us."

"Fortunately, I think I may have found a solution to this." Tekla spoke up with renewed candor, "After intercepting their satellite network, Voxx has deduced that there is indeed a sort of pseudo-world government on this planet."

"Then Eclipse _was_ misleading us," Jade said harshly.

"Actually, I believe he was merely telling a half-truth. Yet, I think this is the best way for us to make contact in such a way that it will be clear we are trying to speak to the entire planet as a whole." Tekla continued.

"That's great news, Tekla," Graveheart said brightly, "We shouldn't waste anymore time sending our own transmission back to them. We don't want to keep them waiting."

"I will begin constructing a message that they will understand, then." Tekla replied.

"Who knows, we might just have found a new Alliance member." Zera offered.

"Well, lets hope so," Graveheart said.

It had been several hours since he had gotten the phone call last night, and not an ounce of sleep to go on since. Given the craziness that followed, it was almost as though that personal phone call had been the real catalyst that sent the world upside down. As a prominent diplomat, Adam Dunford had been the 'lucky' man chosen by the UN to be Earth's official representative for making contact with the alien race. Adam had played a crucial role mediating several tense negotiations in the Middle East, resulting in a fragile but lasting peace, even now in the year 2011. His credentials had gotten him this post, but obviously there was no real training for proper diplomatic relations with ALIENS! He also suspected that, in light of the death of his wife, six months ago, some of the higher-ups at the UN must have took pity on him and granted him this prestigious position.

"Gee, thanks." Adam thought sarcastically to himself.

He was driving nervously through the streets of New York city, approaching the UN building. The correspondence received back from the aliens said that this was where they planned to arrive.

News of the alien message had shaken many communities across the globe. Most people, after the initial shock, were eager to learn more about the nature of these visitors. They were largely inclined toward the idea that the aliens were peaceful. However, there were many others who took the news as a sign that an invasion was imminent. There were demonstrations in the streets, with fanatics making 'end of the world' declarations. Others still, took religious offense to the idea that there were people living beyond Earth and proclaimed that the message was nothing more than an elaborate hoax. The tabloids and mainstream media both were having a field day. Fortunately, all these incidents were fairly benign; without any of the extreme panic that some might have dreaded.

Adam immediately noticed the huge crowd of people that had congregated just outside the property limits. The NYPD had formed a security line to keep out any trouble makers. He felt a bit nervous as he approached. Sure enough, as he was waved through by the police, a rotten egg somehow found its way onto his windshield and splattered. One lousy phone call and suddenly he was the center of the world's attention, both good and bad… and he hated it.

"Alright, you ready Tekla?" Graveheart asked as he activated the bladewing's engines.

They were still in the Aurora's hangar bay. The Aurora itself had just come into Earth's orbit. The two of them (not counting Voxx), as the Alliance's neutral representatives, had been chosen to make the contact.

"I am ready" Tekla assured him.

"Translation matrix online," Voxx confirmed.

"You are clear to leave," Cryos said over the comm from the Aurora's bridge, "However, I'd recommend you make a slow descent. Sensors show that the Aurora has been targeted by several missile silos. We should try not to alarm anyone."

"Roger that," Graveheart said as they pulled out of the main ship and entered the planet's atmosphere.

Upon close inspection, Planet Earth showed itself to be the most diverse planet the Alliance had yet encountered. There were vast deserts, like those of Planet Sand, lush forests, like those of Planet Jungle and extensive mountain ranges that reminded Graveheart of Planet Rock. There were even glaciers and ice caps reminiscent of Planet Ice. They got a clear view of all these things during their slow descent over the planet surface.

"It is incredible," Tekla breathed as her eyes drank in the wonderous sights.

"Yeah you're right. I hope this doesn't sound too crude, but I bet the Beast Planet would have found this place especially tasty." Graveheart commented as he piloted the ship.

"It is a very good thing that we lost the Beast before we came here," Tekla said, "My initial scans showed that this planet has no world engine, and so would have been easy prey."

Adam felt a familiar queasiness in his stomach as he saw the alien ship descending before the UN building. It closely resembled a typical fighter jet, but there was definitely something otherworldly about it. The ship landed in the enclosed courtyard before the main entrance and Adam stepped forward from the other officials to greet the aliens' own representative. When the aliens emerged, the sight of them made his jaw drop. One appeared to be a very attractive woman made entirely of metal. She was some sort of artificial life form. She also had an odd, spherical device which, inexplicably, was floating in mid-air just above her left shoulder. The other alien was male, but he was even stranger in that he appeared to be made of stone. His hair was blue and crystalline and his grey/blue skin had a complexion to it that resembled marble. Adam, when he found himself again, ordered his legs to take him out toward the visitors. They did likewise and met him halfway.

"Uh, welcome to Earth," was all he managed to say.

The mechanical woman started talking to the male in a strange language he did not understand. (He said, welcome to Earth.). Then, the male began speaking in the same strange language. When he stopped, the woman spoke up again.

"Ambassador Graveheart is grateful to be so warmly welcomed by the people of Earth. Rest assured, you have nothing to fear from us."

"Oh, so you do speak English then." Adam said with relief. Feeling a bit better, he continued, "Well, what do you say to a handshake to make it official?"

Adam extended his hand. Understanding this universal gesture of greeting, Ambassador Graveheart took his hand and shook it. The crowd, which had been watching from the sidelines the whole time, applauded forcefully. The sound of the applause pounded in their ears. The rockman smiled. He understood that this first contact had been a success.

The following few hours were little more than a string of disjointed and surreal memories in Graveheart's mind now. He had been taken into the building to address the UN general assembly. It appeared that, unlike most of the Alliance worlds, Planet Earth was relying heavily on a democratic system; a system which was often different in each of the member countries. When he and Tekla first appeared in the general assembly room, there was an audible collective gasp in response to their strange appearance. This world truly had never encountered life other than their own.

Graveheart had made a lengthy speech before the assembly. All the while, he had to use Tekla as a translator, which was awkward at first, but got smoother as he progressed. He explained to the assembly how their Alliance worlds were without a solar system to inhabit and that they would be honored if the people of Earth would allow them to live beside them peacefully. He even invited the people of Earth to officially join the Alliance.

Unfortunately, Graveheart was not able to say all these things without touching on the subject of the Beast Planet. It took a fair bit of explanation for the Earth people to truly understand what the Beast was all about. And once they did understand, it naturally made them uneasy. He stressed to them that there was no foreseeable danger to letting the Alliance stay, but they still seemed unconvinced when he left the room for the vote.

At this point, Graveheart was sitting in some sort of waiting room with Tekla, waiting for the UN general assembly to 'officially' grant their permission for the Alliance to settle their worlds into the Sol system. He looked up at Tekla, who was seated across from him, reading some sort of Earth document. He envied her ability to learn new written and spoken languages as though she were just changing accessories or something.

"What are you reading?" Graveheart asked curiously.

"It is something called a '_magazine_'," Tekla answered, "It is quite interesting."

"I take it you're not as worried as I am about the outcome of this vote?" Graveheart asked.

Tekla smiled reassuringly, "I think these are good people. I am sure that they will understand our plight."

Just then, the door to the room swung open and Adam Dunford entered.

"Well, it seems they've voted to let you stay. I'm surprised the deliberations didn't take weeks. I'd say this is one of the quickest decisions the UN has ever made." Adam said, smiling.

Tekla translated for Graveheart. Graveheart responded, with genuine relief in his voice.

"That is good news, ambassador," Tekla replied, "Graveheart would like to know what happens next."

Adam's smile faded slightly. He glanced down at the heavy wad of documents he was carrying under his right arm.

"It seems I'm to go back with you to speak with the Alliance." Adam replied, "There are a few conditions."


End file.
